Shift would allow sponsor logos on swimwear

Soccer has corporate logos on jerseys, and NASCAR has them on cars. Soon swimmers could have
them on swimsuits.

USA Swimming is
considering amending its swimwear rules to allow professional and amateur
swimmers to wear two corporate logos on their suits, caps, goggles and other
clothing. If the rule is approved by USA Swimming’s board in September,
swimmers will be able to wear the logos on their suits and caps for the first
time at USA Swimming events.

To date, swimmers have
been allowed to wear only the trademark logo of their suit, cap or goggle
manufacturer. The new rule would allow them to wear the logo of any corporation
provided it is not associated with tobacco, alcohol or pharmaceuticals that
contain banned substances. Logos could even conflict with existing USA Swimming
partners.

The proposal means that
instead of stepping onto the starting block in an unadorned black swimsuit as
Amanda Beard did earlier this month at the USA Swimming National Championships,
she could step on the block in a suit featuring the logos of one of her
existing corporate partners, like Mission Skincare.

The rule change is part of
a concerted effort by USA Swimming to provide swimmers and swim clubs with more
revenue-generating opportunities, and it would make swimming the latest
national governing body to allow corporate logos at what are typically austere
Olympic sporting events.

Selling logo space for
athletes is already commonplace at Olympic organizations like USA Ski &
Snowboard and USA Cycling. Other large national governing bodies like USA
Gymnastics and USA Track & Field allow logos at domestic meets.

“It’s the only way to make
these smaller sports revenue positive for athletes,” said Trent Staley, an
athlete representative at USA Swimming who co-chaired a task force that
developed the rule change. “Time will tell how much this really helps, but it
could lead to the most revenue expansion for athletes in years.”

Swimmers would be able to
wear the logos only at USA Swimming events like the national championships and
Grand Prix events. They couldn’t wear logos on suits at events staged by FINA,
the international swimming federation, or at the U.S. Olympic trials, unless
FINA or the U.S. Olympic Committee allowed it.

USA Swimming executives
plan to ask the USOC to consider allowing the logos to be worn at the U.S.
Olympic trials before the 2012 London Games.

Even without being able to
wear logos at the Olympic trials, athletes and agents expect the rule change to
open new sales opportunities. Evan Morgenstein, CEO of Premier Management
Group, which represents Dara Torres, Beard and other elite swimmers, said that
an established Olympian could sell those logos for as much as six figures a
year, while a less established swimmer could draw low- to mid-five figures.

USA Swimming’s proposal to
allow athletes to sell logo space follows a recent study by the organization
that revealed some of the financial challenges swimmers face, especially now
that swimwear companies like Speedo, Nike and Tyr have eliminated or cut back
on endorsements.

In an effort to help
swimmers fill that lost revenue, USA Swimming not only is proposing an
amendment to its rules that would allow swimmers to sport logos, it also is
planning to double its monthly stipend for post-graduate athletes from $1,750
to $3,500.

“We saw that finances were
going down, yet performances were going up, so we felt we really needed to find
a way to support these swimmers,” said Matt Farrell, USA Swimming’s chief
marketing officer. “That precipitated this whole thing.”

USA Swimming dropped a
proposal that would have tied its stipend increase to a marketing agreement
that would require swimmers to make two appearances annually on USA Swimming’s
behalf and sign autographs. Agents questioned the proposal, and USA Swimming
capitulated to their concerns, deciding to double swimmers’ stipends without
any requirements.

“It’s basically just
additional funding, which is what it should have been all along,” said Peter
Carlisle, the head of Octagon’s Olympic division. “It’s the right decision, and
it’s the right decision not to predicate it on turning over rights.”